Keeping Time With Your Footsteps
by MsGey
Summary: Loveena Cyprus is forced to go with Raymond Leon, the TimeKeeper incharge of her father's murder.
1. Summary

Loveena Cyprus' father is a powerful man. She was raised knowing it.

Loveena never knew her mother, and it shows in her behavior. She's considered royalty, but she's a trouble child. She doesn't want anything to do with what her father does.

But when her father dies in the dead of night, she's not sure how to deal with it.

She's always known to shun Time Keepers, and when they raid her house and take her away from her home, she's sure she hates them.

The Time Keeper running the show goes by Raymond Leon, and he's in charge of where she goes. He takes her to the Ghetto and teaches her how to live that way, in his old neighborhood.


	2. First Impressions Are Important

The thin arms of my neighbor, Ms. Skelly, were wrapped tightly around my shoulders when the powerful, black, smooth car drove up to the front door to accompany the rest of the cars. The new Timekeepers stepped out of the car to join the rest inside the estate.

_The time wasn't important as I came through the door. Drunk and high on unknown __drugs__, I didn't even notice the shape our living spaces were in. Furniture was turned up-side-down and glass was all over the carpet._

I squeezed my eyes shut, sober now.

_Every door was open, and I stepped over a fallen, broken, ripped painting. The estate was so quiet, I could hear my own heartbeat: quick and out of control. As I looked around, I began to notice that things weren't in order. I righted a vase and my knuckles brushed wet blood._

The red was vibrant against the pale of my hand. I didn't bother rubbing it off. The investigators had said something about testing it. I wasn't sure if they had swabbed my hand or not yet.

_I looked down at my hand and stared stupidly at the red. I looked up and there was a trail of blood on the wall leading from the dining hall. I followed shakily, my fear replacing my high. At the __end__ of the trail, my father laid in the hallway in a pool of his own blood._

"He's been dead awhile," one of the investigators told a Timekeeper and they quickly looked over at me. The Timekeeper's skinwas dark and his eyes were the color of coal long-dead.

_I screamed and for some reason, shook him as if he were simply asleep. Blood seeped into the white dress I had decided to wear for the party. His skin was cold and the couple hundred of years that had been on his arm had been reduced to flat zeros._

I gazed down at my arm, the hundreds of years on my arm now looking deadly. If I had been home, I would have shared the same fate.

I watched the investigators and Timekeepers come out of my home with the remaining valuables. Ms. Skelly reassured me that they were going to try and find evidence on the pieces of my home. It was all loaded up with my father's body and were taken away.

"Ms. Cyprus?" A cold, yet curious, voice sounded off in front of me. I blinked and stared at the Timekeeper in front of me. His eyes were an icy blue, his hair the darkest black.

"Loveena," I said stiffly, and glanced down at the hand he offered me.

"Miss, my name is-"

"You're a Timekeeper, that's all I need to know," I snapped rudely and Ms. Skelly choked on her own saliva.

The Timekeeper smiled stiffly, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

"You have to come with me for a while. You can either go calmly, or I'll force you," he said, the tone of his voice meant that he was authority.

I despised authority.

"Or I can say-" I smiled sarcastically as I paused, "for you to go fuck yourself."

He clenched his jaw, and tried to convince everyone around him that I wasn't getting to him. He stared me down as his coworkers waited for his reaction.

"You can say that later," he said and gripped my upper arm with an iron grip. I tried to pull out of the grasp as he dragged me towards his car. I reached around, laid my hand against the back of his neck and swept my foot under his. He didn't fall, like I wanted him to. He just stumbled, causing me more discomfort. He regained his footing immediately and shoved me inside the car.

The door locked from the outside and I stared at my driveway through his tinted window.

The Timekeeper got into the car and smoothly drove from my home.

* * *

I didn't speak until we drove through several different time zones.

"Where am I going?"

"The Ghetto," he answered and my jaw dropped.

"We can't go there! I'm as good as dead there!" I rose my voice at him and he slammed on the brakes. I flew forward, striking my forehead on the dashboard.

"I am not one of your friends you can scream and holler at, do you understand me? I am trying to protect you," he said through clenched teeth. I felt almost accomplished, that I had pushed him to the point of anger.

"Protect me? You're taking me to my own death if you take me to the Ghetto! Look at this," I shoved my forearm in his face. "This wont pass in the Ghetto!"

He grabbed my arm, grabbed a glittering device and pressed it to my wrist. I watched in horror as my time was reduced to a day and a half.

"Then we can just hold on to your riches until it's safe to leave," he said and slid the device into his jacket pocket. He began to drive again, leaving me speechless.

"How dare you?" My voice had risen again. He put the car in Auto, so it drove itself, and turned to me with a passive expression on his face.

"I am only protecting you so that the same that happened to your father does not happen to you. How the killer was able to come into New Greenwich is being investigated. How did the killer get away with shooting your father and then raiding the place?"

The question was a stab to the chest and I clenched my jaw to keep from bursting into tears. I realized a scary thing then: I hadn't cried about my father's death.

"We lived miles from other people," I answered simply, and he decided that was enough. He had probably planned to hurt me like this so that I would quiet down.

When we entered the Ghetto, I watched the Timekeeper navigate his way through the back alleys like-

"I used to live here," he mentioned as he pulled into a driveway. The apartment building we came up to looked old and as if it would collapse at any minute.

"Home sweet home," I mumbled, after deciding not to make a remark about him living in the Ghetto before.

We walked inside and it was quiet. The air smelt like mold, urine, and blood. We stepped into an apartment and he locked the door behind us.

"Raymond Leon," he introduced himself but I still didn't take the hand he offered me.

"You know my name," I stated and walked past him. I found the bathroom with no problems, and started a hot bath. I heard Ray talking to someone on the phone, complaining about something.

_Probably you, you ungrateful bitch,_a voice murmured at the back of my mind.

As I sank into the steaming water, I wondered how long Ray had been alive. How long he had worked as a Timekeeper. Questions began to bubble up in my head.

How long was my father dead? Why was he killed? Who killed him? Are they coming after me? Do they know I'm here yet?

I slid farther into the water, so that my head was beneath the surface. My body shook as sobs tried to break from my chest, into my mouth and then into the air with their horrible sounds.

I held myself under for as long as I could, forcing back the sobs. The oxygen in my lungs burned and I released the gas slowly, exhaling bubbles. Once I could exhale no more, I forced myself to stay under even longer.

I sat up in the tub when I could no longer handle the water and I coughed.

"Loveena, are you okay?" Raymond's voice was just on the other side of the door. I hoped he didn't try to come in here. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and crossed my legs just in case.

"I'm fine," I wheezed, just as my tears broke free. I could barely feel then, they were hot against my already-hot cheeks.


	3. Safety During Danger

Raymond's breathing was steady as he slept on the armchair by the door. I studied from my place on the ratty couch. From spending a week with him already, I knew that he didn't sleep very often, so when he did, he was a deep sleeper. But sleeping in the armchair couldn't be as comfortable as he claimed it to be.

In the time I spent with him, I didn't learn much about him from asking questions. I asked a few questions about him, got minimal information and then learned the rest that I knew from watching him. He had grown up in the Ghetto and knew how to act. The minute he was out of his Timekeeper clothing, he looked nothing like authority. He looked like someone from the Ghetto.

He knew people that we could trust and he knew who not to talk to while we were out. He was only 35, and had been a Timekeeper for 10 years so far. Both of his parents were dead and there was no sign of siblings. He didn't talk very much, and took his job very seriously.

I jumped out of my thoughts when Raymond suddenly groaned in his sleep and twisted his body in the chair. To my surprise, he didn't wake up.

I stoodup, checked that he was still dead asleep, went out the window, onto the fire escape and climbed to the roof.

The Ghetto was a dirty place, and I missed New Greenwich, but my home had been torn from my grasp. My lifehad been flipped over, and destroyed. It seemed that the more time we spent in the Ghetto, the more the death of my father felt like a dream. We hadn't gotten any news from the other Timekeepers about my father's murderer, but video recordings from my estate showed that the man who had come to kill my father knew where the cameras were.

I swung my legs over the edge of the building and gazed into the city below. People were getting their much-needed sleep, as I should be doing now, but I was wired.

* * *

After an hour of thinking to myself and enjoying the quiet, I went back down to the apartment. When I slid inside, I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Where were you?" I turned to look at Raymond, but his eyes were shut. He looked pained, and I realized he was talking in his sleep.

"Who?" I whispered. I had heard that if you talk to someone while they're talking in their sleep, they'll answer you honestly.

"Please..just don't..." he mumbled more, and turned his face into the chair as if turning away from whoever was in his head. _I guess that rumor about people responding to your questions was a myth._

I went back to the couch and laid on my back, so I could watch Raymond some more. Who did he dream about? What did he dream about? Was it because of his dreams that he didn't sleep as often as he should?

I had so many questions that couldn't be answered, it was ridiculous.

* * *

The next morning, I was staring sleepily at the clock as it struck 8am. Raymond had been awake an hour, clanging around in the kitchen and then running the shower for himself, keeping me from the sleep I had previously been enjoying.

"Get yourself ready. We're going out," he said and I looked at him. His hair was messy from sleeping, there were dark circles under his eyes and he was wearing jeans and a towel was draped over his shoulders. I smiled sarcastically.

"If _we're_going out, you'll have to wait for me," I stated and he swallowed. I knew he wanted to say something, to push my buttons like he had done before, but something stopped him.

"Try to hurry up," he mumbled.

_What's troubling him?_

I got up slowly, stretched and caught a look of Raymond. His back was turned to me and the flesh was pale with freckles sprinkled across the flesh. The muscle rippled when he slipped his shirt on over his head and then the show was over. I walked to the bathroom and started the water.

My cheeks were flushed with blood and I stripped down to nothing.

_Sure, he's good looking, but he's a complete jerk,_ I reassured myself. _And I'm a complete bitch, but I'm hot,_I answered myself and snickered at my vain thought process.

I showered, scrubbing every bit of me until my skin felt clean and then turned off the water. I reached for my towel and-

I forgot it on a hook in the living room that plants usually hang from. _You have got to be kidding me._

"Raymond?" I called, but he didn't respond. I opened the door a little and I could hear him in the kitchen. "Raymond?" I heard him coming, so I angled myself so he couldn't see _me_.

I blushed when he rose an eyebrow.

"Can you get my towel?"

"Where is it?"

"In the living room, on that hook by the window," I answered and he got it for me without a word. There was definitely something bothering him. Usually we were at each others throats.

I dried off, brushed my hair out, and got dressed. Once I was ready to go and we made sure we had enough time on our arms, we left the apartment.

We walked around aimlessly. At least, that's what it seemed to me, but Ray was on a mission.

A group of men came sauntering down the street and we turned quickly into an alley. I jogged with Raymond to the end, and the street on the other side was filled with people. I had never been around this many people from the Ghetto.

I turned and looked behind us, and I saw the men following us. Before I could tell Raymond, he had dragged me into a doorway and we were behind the door just as they came around the corner.

Where we were, it was tight squeeze. I was practically pinned to the wall with Raymond looming over, keeping an eye on the men. I watched them too, my breathing coming out quick and panicky.

"What do you think they want?" I asked and his blue eyes pierced mine. When I met his eyes, my stomach twisted. He didn't answer for a moment, until my breathing had quieted.

"They're probably part of a gang here, looking to rob some people of their time. Not like we have much," he said and gazed down at my forearm. There was only 13 hours, and 17 minutes on it. We lived day-by-day here.

"Why are we out here?" I asked him and he met my eyes again.

"I have to meet with someone that might be able to help us," he answered, not giving me much information. I exhaled through my nose, frustrated with his vague answers.

"You're not very much fun today. What's with this illusive person you've brought to the party?" I asked and he shifted away from me.

"This isn't a party or a game, Loveena. We're trying to figure out who killed your father," he snapped and I shoved him away from me. Not expecting the reaction, he stared at me.

"You're supposed to be protecting me, and yet you bring me out here! I'm going back to the apartment," I told him, keeping my voice under control. He reached out to grasp my arm as I took a few steps forward.

"Loveena, don't-" I struck him across the face and he froze all advancements. We had never rose a hand to each other, and here I had just slapped him as if he were my bitch.

I walked past him and stuck my hands in my pockets, the safety of the knife in there was reassuring. I walked back to the apartment by myself, but about a block from it, I was cornered by the same men that had been following Ray and I.

"Look what we have here," one of them cooed, and pulled at my hair. I pulled away, disgusted. I drew the knife and they pulled back with smirks.

"She's feisty too. Hey babe, why don't you come with us and we'll show you what real men can do for you," another said, and pulled out a gun. I took a step away and the third man in the group bumped me from behind, pulling the knife from my grasp.

My heart hammered in my chest as they taunted more and drew closer still. Their hands pulled at my hair, my clothing, and slid across my flesh. I ran out of their reached, back the way I had come and ran into another. I screamed and pulled back, only to look up into icy eyes.

"I hope you weren't thinking of doing anything to hurt her," Raymond said, and this was the first time I'd noticed the gun in his hand.

The men looked around sheepishly.

"Us? No man, we were just having a bit of fun." The men sneered, agreeing. I wrapped my arms around Raymond's chest and buried my face in the crook of his neck. I heard their footfalls as they walked away.

"Are you okay?" He asked, shoving the gun into the back of his belt and pulling his jacket over to cover it.

I didn't answer for a moment as I began to tremble. I didn't belong here. My attitude was perfect in New Greenwich, where people respected me. Here, people just wanted to survive. Murder or not.

"I'm fine," I whispered and he peeled me off. My stomach rolled again as he stared into my eyes.

"We can still go back if you want," he suggested. He meant back to the apartment, and I shook my head 'no'. I couldn't be in that small space right now, I'd destroy whatever remaining mentality that I had left.

We started walking again, and people kept back. People respected Raymond here, even though they didn't recognize him. They had the right to fear him.

We came to a run-down house, and a bearded man met us inside with sweating glasses of water.

"Ray, it's nice to see you again," he said and I noted several other men seated around the large living room.

"Howard, it's good to see you too," Raymond greeted, clasping the man's hand.

Howard looked at me and his eyes slipped over my body to the point that I felt exposed. Raymond put an arm over my shoulders and I leaned into him, feeling safer.

"This is Loveena. We're engaged," Raymond told Howard and I smiled like a good actress.

"It's nice to meet you," I greeted and Howard kissed the top of my hand.

"Likewise."

They talked in code, and we were there for over an hour. Raymond finally got a name and we left quickly. We walked in silence back to the apartment. Once we were safely back inside, I sagged and had to sit down.

Raymond locked himself in the one bedroom we had and called the other Timekeepers. He talked to them for a while, and by the time he came back out, I was nearly asleep.

"They're going to catch a couple of people, then we have to go in. Most likely, the men who did it knew you or your father, and you've seen them before," he told me and I nodded sleepily, not caring for anything he said at the moment.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night with Raymond sitting on the floor next to me. He was cleaning his gun and it didn't look so deadly all pulled apart.

I watched him for a while, then dozed off again.

I never did find out what he had dreamt about that night.


	4. The Truth, Hate, and Midnight Strolls

I sat on the roof by myself, the air especially chilly tonight. Raymond had fallen asleep in the armchair again, against his best efforts to stay awake.

I laid back and gazed at the stars. You didn't see stars like this in New Greenwich unless they were man-made.

Two days had passed since Raymond had said we were going back, but we were still in the Ghetto. I didn't know if I _wanted_ to go back to New Greenwich. There was nothing there for me. Although, there wasn't anything here for me either.

I stood up slowly, rubbing at the goose flesh on my arms.

"So this is where you go," Ray said from behind me, making me jump. I covered my chest with my hand, feeling my rapid heartbeat beneath my palm.

"And now you've ruined it, thank you," I snapped at him, turning to look at his disheveled appearance. He had probably woken up, and searched the whole apartment for me before coming up here. His eyes were bloodshot, his skin almost translucent, and his hair was a mess, his clothing matching his hair.

"How have I ruined it?" He asked, and I turned away from him, still startled.

"It was the one place I could be alone," I explained to him and he shuffled his feet.

I turned back to him, and hadn't realized he'd shuffled forward. He was now about half a foot away from me. My heart hammered in my chest.

"Why would someone who's around people day in and day out, want to be alone?" He asked, referring to my old life. I swallowed the lump in my throat and met his piercing gaze.

"It gets a little sickening, being someone you're not. I wanted escape, and I got it. I had everything anyone could ask for, then I let it all slip from my grasp. I like being alone because that means I don't have to deal with anyone saying how disappointed they are in me and how they wish I was someone else," I told him. He looked surprised that I had given him a real answer. I had just revealed myself to him and he didn't know how to respond.

"I'm not disappointed in you," he said and I barked a cruel, sarcastic laugh. My wall was being built back up against him, and he was fighting as hard as he could to keep it down.

"I can't even protect myself against a couple of low life thugs. Don't make me laugh, Raymond," I snapped and he gripped my jaw with his fingers. He forced me to look into his eyes and my stomach rolled when our eyes met.

"I'm not disappointed in you. You're a strong girl, Loveena. Your father would be proud too, if he could see you now. You've survived in the Ghetto, a place he didn't even step foot in," Raymond told me firmly, and I blinked back tears. I gently took his hand away from my face and took a step back from him.

"Thank you, Raymond, but I didn't even give my father the time of day, I'm positive he wouldn't care less about what I was doing," I said, as I turned my back and prepared to go back to the apartment.

"Are you so proud that what I say doesn't matter?" Raymond yelled at my back, making me freeze as his voice echoed in the sleeping city.

I waited a couple of seconds, to see if he made a move toward me, then I continued down into the apartment.

I sat on the couch, my face emotionless as stone as Raymond climbed in a minute after me. He didn't look at me as he went past, into the bathroom.

I heaved a shaky sigh and laid my head back on the couch as Ray ran water in the sink. I listened to him for a moment, then he turned off the water.

"I'm not too proud to listen to you, I just don't want to hear that my father is- was- proud of me," I said when he came out of the bathroom. He went into the kitchen, continuing to ignore me.

I got up, and went to the kitchen to find him leaning against the counter, facing me.

"Why not? Because you were a party girl? Because you hate yourself for letting him die? Because it might've been one of your buddies that murdered him?" Raymond spat, and I took a step back as if he had struck me.

"What did you say?" I whispered, rage building up in my body. His face didn't change as he stared me down.

"It could have been one of _your_ friends that killed _your _father," he said again, just as harshly. I felt like choking the life out of him. I felt like falling to my knees and agreeing with him. I felt like ripping his vocal cords from his throat. I felt all of this, all at once.

Instead of acting on any of my feelings, I took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen. I went to the living room, slipped on my shoes, took Ray's gun, and left the apartment without a word. He must have known I had left, because I had slammed the door hard enough to wake the whole city.

* * *

I walked for a long time. Not many people were out this late, and most of them steered clear when they saw the gun glinting on my hip in plain view.

"Ah, Loveena! What brings you to this part of the Ghetto?" Someone says to my left, and I realize it's the man Raymond had taken me to two days ago: Howard. He was sitting on a stoop with a cigarette between his fingertips. His eyes shifted to the gun, then to my face.

"I just needed some fresh air," I answered, and accepted the cigarette he offered me.

"Did you and Ray get into a quarrel?" He asked and lit my cigarette for me. I took a long drag and sat next to the dangerous man.

"You could say that," I answered. The rage and hate coursing through my veins was greeted by the nicotine, and calmed into a buzz.

"I know who you really are, love," Howard whispers and I turned cold.

"What do you mean?" I was trying to play dumb, but my fingers are shaking now.

"You're from New Greenwich. Your father was just killed. Raymond shouldn't have used your real name, sweetheart. You wanna know who killed your daddy?" He seemed to be mocking me now. I felt people behind me now.

"Yes," I answered and Howard chuckled.

"He doesn't live around here anymore, but he used to. His name is Johnny Penning. He came crawling back here, saying you had broken his little heart. I'm sure you don't remember now, this had to of been 3 years ago. He never lets things go."

I did remember him. He was lean, tall, with a head of beautiful blond curls. He had the most charming smile, and a wicked, violent temper. He had lost his temper a few times with me, and had knocked me against a wall, or kicked my ribs. I had left him in the middle of the night, and had a few people get him back to the Ghetto where he clearly belonged.

"He found where you lived. He went to kill you, and found your father instead. Want to hear how he killed your father?" He didn't wait for me to answer. "He shot him him the leg, and watched him stumble and limp down the hallway. Johnny then struck him down, stole his time, and shot him several times in the chest. He was going to wait for you to be home, but he was afraid someone had heard the gunshots," Howard told me. I was shaking, inside and out. I felt like I had to throw up.

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"He told me to give you a message. When you get back to New Greenwich, go home. He'll be waiting for you there. And don't bring any trouble along, or he'll kill someone else you love. If you don't leave tomorrow, I get to send my men after you. Am I clear?" Howard gripped my chin, not as gently as Ray had done previously tonight, and forced my head to turn and look at him. His eyes blazed with insane cruelty. "Am. I. Clear?"

"Chrystal."

* * *

I stumbled back to the apartment. I had grabbed the gun for nothing. It hadn't helped me.

Raymond was sitting on the building's steps, waiting for me. He looked sorry as hell when he saw me.

"I'm-"

"Shut up," I growled, cutting him off, and sliding past him into the building. I went to our apartment and then broke down. I slid to the floor against the wall and just shook. Raymond tried to help and find out what had happened, but there was no way I could tell him.

"I ran into Howard. He had some more information. We have to go back tomorrow, or his lead wont help at all," I told him. I was trying to control my emotions. I had completely forgiven Ray for what he had said, because it was true. Johnny had killed my father, looking for me. He had previously been my 'buddy'.

Then something hit me like a brick: _I was going to die tomorrow._

I hugged Raymond. No matter what, I was going to die. If I told him, someone else was going to die, then I was going to die. If I didn't tell him, I was going to die. There was just no winning in a situation like this.

"Ray?" I whispered and he pulled back to look at me.

Before he could ask what I needed, I planted my lips on his. He was shocked at first, but as I combed my fingers into his hair, he responded hungrily.

He kissed me deeply, leaving me breathless as his lips went to my throat.

If I was going to die tomorrow, I wanted my last night alive to be with Raymond. I wanted to explore every bit and piece of him.

_But you hate him._ The voice in my head stated and I forced Raymond's lips back to my own. _This is far from hate. I don't love him, but I could. I could love him, just if I had more __**time**__._

He pushed back against my lips, but this was rather awkward while we were both sitting on the floor. He pulled my legs up and around his waist, so we could get closer. I forced him back into a laying position, pulling at his shirt and belt. He stopped my hands and met my eyes with his cold eyes that were alive with fire.

"What brought this on?" He asked and I kissed him briefly.

"Do you want me to go back to my old ways?" I asked. I don't think I could just get up and walk away at this point though.

"No," he breathed, happy with my response.

We tugged at each others clothing, breathing hard. We switched positions all over the apartment, trading the lead roles and staying up until dawn. By then, we were both on the couch. I was curled into a ball at his side.

"You have no idea how long I wanted _that_," Raymond stated, his skin glistening beautifully.

"Thank you for not pulling away when I kissed you," I murmured and kissed the stubble on his cheek.

"When this investigation is over, come stay with me," Ray suggested. He wanted me with him. He wanted _me_.

My impending doom put a damper on things.

"I'm yours," I whispered and listened to his heartbeat.

I wanted more than anything to tell him I was going to die today and to somehow save me.


	5. Coughing Up Blood

Towers rose up from the ground and seemed to touch the sky as Ray and I drove into New Greenwich. We had slept until noon, 5 hours of sleep, and were now surprisingly wide awake. We were going to my old neighborhood. I told Raymond that I just wanted to check my estate for anything I wanted to take with me, and I could get a car from my father's garage to drive me to where ever he was going.

While he was driving, I crawled into the back (much to his discomfort) and began writing him a note he would later find on my body.

Why had I accepted my death so easily?

"Ray, you talk in your sleep," I said randomly and he looked at me in the rear view mirror.

"I've heard that a couple times," he replied. "What did I talk about?"

"You were talking to someone. Who do you dream about?"

"Well this morning, I dreamt about you. And you have been in my head for a while now. Do you remember what I said?" He seemed like he was actually going to tell me anything I wanted to know, at this very moment.

"You asked where they were, and asked them not to do something," I told him and he looked at the road, clearly avoiding my gaze.

"I was talking to my father. He left us when I was 8," he said and my face fell.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't be. I don't really remember him, just shapes and shadows now," he said and met my gaze in the rear view mirror again.

"One more thing. Why did you act weird the day we went to see Howard?" Just thinking of the man made me want to throw up.

"It was about then that I found out I had feelings for you. It was a constant inner battle to control you and myself. And I had to make a good impression for him, make up a good story, or else he wouldn't help us. He's just one of _those_ men. I wasn't sure if you were going to go along with it. And then those men-" he shuddered with a visible anger and disgust. "They were going to destroy you. I could see it in their eyes. I just wanted to keep you as safe as possible, and try to keep my emotions toward you under control," he explained.

"You shouldn't have told him my real name," I blurted and Raymond put the car in Auto Mode. He turned around in his seat and eyed me.

"Why? What did he say when you saw him last night?"

I wanted to tell him everything.

"Nothing. Just said he knew who I was, and asked if you and I had a fight," I said, only telling a little bit of the truth.

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

Raymond didn't look like he believed me, but after a few reassuring words, I got him to stop being paranoid and a worry wort.

We were entering New Greenwich as Raymond took over driving again. I finished my note to him and reread it:

_Ray,  
Find Johnny Penning. Tall, blond curls, blood on his hands.  
I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I wanted to, but I'm afraid he'd kill you instead.  
I'll face this myself.  
I wish I had the time to fall in love with you.  
I'll __wait__ until it's your time to bite the dust, and fall in love with you then.  
-Loveena._

I tucked the note into my pocket, letting Raymond see me do it.

"What's that?" He asked, a soft smile on his face. The freckles on his face looked darker today.

"A note for you. You'll get it later, okay?" I felt sick.

"Okay. So I'll drop you off at your estate, and I'll go to the station to let them know we're here?" I agreed with his plan.

* * *

I stood at the front door of my estate, Raymond already at the end of the driveway.

I let myself in and the living room smelt like mold and alcohol. I looked around, but there was no sign of Johnny. Maybe I was early? I checked upstairs, and found every door open, just like the night I had found my father. Except my door was closed.

My heart beat was terrifyingly loud, and I was sure Johnny could hear it through the walls.

I opened my door and found him sitting on my bed, waiting for me. He had a phone in his hand.

"I wasn't sure you were going to make it. I thought I was going to have to call Howard back. Close the door," he said, just as charming as before, but there was something dark about him now too. I closed the door behind me and he was off the bed and had me pinned back against the door in two strides. He locked a hand around my throat and took a long sniff of my hair.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you," he whispered, and slid his hand to my leg. When I tried to move away, he lifted me, by the throat, half a foot into the air. I closed my eyes and waited for my lungs to just give up. Before they could, he put my feet back on the ground.

"You smell like sex," he whispered and released my neck. He gripped a fistful of my hair and gently kissed my bruised neck. He bit down on the soft flesh and my hands flew up to ward him off. His teeth broke the skin as he shoved my hands away from his face.

I whimpered and cowered away from him.

"You look tired. Did you make love to Raymond all night?" He whispered in my ear and I shoved him away from me. He had a smirk on his face. "Oh, Howard told me all about the two of you. You reek of _him_. Do you want to know why he doesn't go to the Ghetto anymore?"

Johnny pinned me to the door again, forcing my legs around his waist. He slammed my back into the door until I whimpered, then he brushed his thumb against my cheek.

"He doesn't go to the Ghetto anymore because of his daddy. He just thinks we're all scum. This will prove to him that we're scum," he growled and I slapped him across the face when he tried to unbutton my jeans.

"Johnny, you can kill me, but there is no way I'm going to-"

"It may not to consensual, but it can happen if I want it," Johnny growled, and threw me to the bed. I rolled onto my back just in time for a knife to dive into the place where my head had been. I screamed and leaped off the bed. I was out of my room and halfway down the hallway before Johnny caught me. He had left his knife and now all he had were his bare hands.

"You little bitch!" He screamed and sat on my stomach. I scratched at his face and he held my hands above my head with one hand.

"Fuck you!" I screamed back and he backhanded me across the face. I bucked my hips, trying to throw him off, but he just looked turned on.

"Maybe you will," he replied, completely switching from angry to suggestive.

I said a few choice words that resulted in me getting thrown in several walls, down the hallway, and down the stairs. I could hardly breath by the end of it.

"Come on Love, where's that feisty whore from the beginning?" He kicked me in the ribs as I tried to climb to my feet and I began to sob uncontrollably. He kicked me several more times, then pulled me to my feet by my hair. "Want me to just end your suffering? Want me to just put a bullet in your head?" He breathed, his breath tickling my throat.

"If it will make you happy and move on," I murmured and he howled with laughter, throwing me back to the ground.

"You know what will make me happy? Having your lover-boy here with us. That way, he can watch me kill you, and then he can end me, since my mission in life is to make you suffer," he said and my jaw dropped.

"No, please, don't bring him here. I'll do anything," I whispered and he bent down.

"Anything? Would you strip down and fuck me? To save your lover?" He asked and I bit my lip. He took that as a yes. "Come on then. Do it."

I stood up slowly, and began to pull off my shirt. While I was pulling it over my head, he gripped my wrists and ran his fingertips over my stomach. "Stay like that." As he took his hands away, I didn't move. He gripped my hips and ground his own onto them.

A moment later, I heard the dialing of a phone and the familiar voice of Raymond on the other end of the phone. I pulled my shirt off completely and watched Johnny's face light up.

"Hey, Ray! Look, my name is Johnny, and I've got your girl here. Loveena, say hi," he struck a match and pressed it against my stomach, earning a scream from me. "We're at her estate. Come alone, or you wont see her again." Johnny then hung up and grinned down at me. His blond curls had grown out so they hung in his eyes, adding to his crazy act.

* * *

Raymond showed up 10 minutes later, and Johnny let him draw his gun. As Raymond came into the estate, he was greeted with the sight of me, shirtless, held at point blank by Johnny. I stared at Raymond as he came closer.

"You don't have to kill her," Raymond said and Johnny smiled.

"She fucking deserves it. She sent me all the way back to the Ghetto, after all the hard work I put into coming here. Besides, why not prove to you that all people from the Ghetto are scum. I mean except from yourself of course. You became a Time Keeper, for fucks sake! You're the enemy everywhere," Johnny said, and pressed the gun harder against my temple. I winced and Raymond took a step toward me.

"Watch it Time Keeper!" Johnny screamed and fired the gun, just missing the bridge of my nose.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Raymond said, his gun trained on Johnny's head.

"You know, your whore was ready to fuck me, just so you'd stay away. She didn't want you to see her in her moment of weakness. And look at her now. I said, look at her!" Raymond met my eyes, and I began to cry. I didn't want him here because I knew it was breaking his heart to see this. I didn't need another broken heart in my possession.

Johnny suddenly threw me at Raymond, and 3 gunshots went off. I was thrown into Raymond and we hit the ground, Raymond taking most of the impact. I heard Johnny hit the ground behind me, and a strange, wet gurgle come from his general direction.

"Loveena, you're going to be alright," Raymond said, as I groaned in pain. I looked down at his hands on my chest, and blood oozed out from between his fingers.

"I don't think so, Ray." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the note. "Here's your note." I tried to smile, but when I took my next breath, I started to choke on my own blood.

Raymond ignored the note for now, and began to chant _no_ and _please don't leave me_. I gripped his hand tightly, and waited for my lungs to give up. I was guessing the bullet hit a lung, and now I was dying. Dying was painful.

"Please don't leave me Loveena, I love you," Ray whispered, tears streaming down his perfect, freckled face and I smiled through all my pain.

"I-"

I coughed up blood, and I just couldn't catch my breath.

* * *

The year is 2161 and Raymond has been working as a Time Keeper for 50 years. When asked why he's so bitter towards people from the Ghetto, he doesn't answer, but his mind goes straight to Loveena and Johnny.

Her note, blood stained, wrinkled, and old is in a drawer back home like a photograph of his deceased wife. He doesn't want to look at it, but sometimes he just needs to.

Sometimes he wonders if she's still waiting for him. When he wonders this, he hopes so.


End file.
